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Topic: How to destroy fiberglass rephrased  (Read 1033 times)

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Offline entityBLUE

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How to destroy fiberglass rephrased
« on: February 26, 2024, 08:40:10 AM »
<sorry>
Let me rephrase this. I hear fiberglass is unreactive with acid. Are there any substances that react with it? Strong bases? idk. Plz help.
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Offline Borek

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Re: How to destroy fiberglass rephrased
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2024, 11:25:45 AM »
Barely, and slowly.

Basically fiberglass is made of glass, and is about as reactive as glass (with the most important difference being it has much higher surface/mass ratio, so it it reacts a bit faster).

Also note there is no single, universal answer, as there are probably many types of fiberglass, with different properties. But (especially in construction) they are selected for their strength and resistance.
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Offline Corribus

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Re: How to destroy fiberglass rephrased
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2024, 09:39:00 PM »
Fiberglass is glass fibers dispersed in a polymer matrix. The polymer can be easily dissolved using mineral acid (probably nitric is your best bet) and heat. The glass is more resistant but could probably be digested using HF.
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Re: How to destroy fiberglass rephrased
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2024, 08:19:27 AM »
What is another mineral acid? Also since you mentioned nitric acid, will aqua regia be more effective? Plz advise.
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Offline Corribus

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Re: How to destroy fiberglass rephrased
« Reply #4 on: February 29, 2024, 01:06:50 PM »
Nitric acid is effective since it is also a potential oxidant. Its use is standard in acid digestion of organic material.

Aqua regia contains nitric acid, so yes it will also work to digest organic matter, although it is more dangerous to handle and brings nothing else to the table if all you want to do is eliminate the organic material. Its use in digestions is motivated by the fact that chloride can act as a stabilizing element for extraction of heavy metals prior to trace metal analysis.

If all you want to do is digest polymer, pure nitric acid is a better choice IMO. Going back to the original question, though, neither nitric acid or AR will be very effective against the silicate fiber component of fiberglass.
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